Dinner 2018

[kayb]

 

Thai massaman beef curry, from a recipe on the Spruce website. I even went almost exactly by the recipe but for adding some peas and carrots, as a forage into the pantry yielded only two usable potatoes and there was no other usable produce in the house. Grocery shopping is a priority tomorrow.

 

 

[ElsieD]

Something called an Indonesian style stir fry with ham.  Got a little carried away with the sambal oelek and my mouth is still burning.

Edited March 27, 2018 by ElsieD
Added picture (log)

[robirdstx]

 

Instant Pot Porcupine Meatballs, Garlic Toast, and Steamed Broccoli (to make it healthy!) 

 

[CantCookStillTry]

Steak, Chips and Broccoli. 'Chips' were Halloumi dusted in Chili, Za'atar and Almond flour. Steak was butter basted 2 mins each side and well done . Tender, but no pink. I cannot wait until I can butcher buy my steaks again and choose my thickness. I picked the fattest ones I could see but they all seem to be a uniform 3/4 inch raw. 

 

 

[liuzhou]

Very normal dinner tonight. Normal here, that is. Every mom and pop restaurant or canteen will do you this. Simple but one of my favourites.

 

 

青椒肉片 (qīng jiāo ròu piàn); pork with green chilli peppers*. One of the simplest stir fries. Pork slices marinated in Shaoxing wine, garlic, ginger, red and large green chillies and scallions. A splashette of soy sauce. It isn't traditional but I also added some black salt-fermented beans (豆豉 dòu chǐ).

 

With wok-wilted spinach

 

 

and rice.

 

 

* Not bell peppers; they are vile traitors to the species.  I wouldn't even have them on my compost heap!

Edited March 27, 2018 by liuzhou (log)

[Ann_T]

Thursday night's dinner.

Wings and Wedge Salad with a Buttermilk Gorgonzola dressing.

 

 

I decided to make an Antipasto Platter Saturday night.   Both Moe and Matt love this meal.

 

Blackened green. red, yellow and orange peppers  

and eggplant and zucchini on the grill.

Put together Honeydew melon with prosciutto, drizzled with olive oil and black pepper along with Kalamata olives, Genoa salami, Gorgonzola cheese and grilled garlic bread.

Edited March 27, 2018 by Ann_T (log)

[Shelby]

Smoked and then SV'd turkey sandwiches

 

[Anna N]

54 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

* Not bell peppers; they are vile traitors to the species.  I wouldn't even have them on my compost heap!

So are the peppers that you are using fiery hot or somewhat muted?

[liuzhou]

18 minutes ago, Anna N said:

So are the peppers that you are using fiery hot or somewhat muted?

 

These are the ones I and most people use. I don't know what they may be called outside China, if this cultivar even exists. They are between 6 and 8 inches in length and are what I would call mildly hot (although occasionally you get a relatively vicious one) . That's why I also include the small red chillies which are hot.

 

 

Edited March 27, 2018 by liuzhou (log)

[Anna N]

9 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

 

These are the ones I and most people use. I don't know what they may be called outside China, if this cultivar even exists. They are between 6 and 8 inches in length and are what I would call mildly hot (although occasionally you get a relatively vicious one) . That's why I also include the small red chillies which are hot.

 

 

 

 Thanks. They look somewhat similar to banana peppers but I wouldn’t put any money on them being even the same species.  Banana peppers can be very mild but can also catch you off guard occasionally. 

[HungryChris]

Early dinner at Drago's at the Hilton, New Orleans. This was a refresher course in how my char-grilled oysters should be and what Deb's shrimp and grits can be, at least for me.

I have a strong suspicion that when I try to recreate the sauce for the S&G, that I am guessing is a seasoned rue with tasso ham, garlic and rosemary, that the amount of butter will be almost frightening, but I intend to give it a shot.

HC

[kayb]

1 hour ago, HungryChris said:

Early dinner at Drago's at the Hilton, New Orleans. This was a refresher course in how my char-grilled oysters should be and what Deb's shrimp and grits can be, at least for me.

I have a strong suspicion that when I try to recreate the sauce for the S&G, that I am guessing is a seasoned rue with tasso ham, garlic and rosemary, that the amount of butter will be almost frightening, but I intend to give it a shot.

HC

 

Be still, my heart. If there's a better char-grilled oyster on the planet, I don't think I could stand it. I always ask for more bread to sop up the juice.

 

The sauce for the Mr. B's Bistro S&G is different, but good. I would note they call it red-eye gravy; it resembles NO red-eye gravy with which I was ever acquainted, but I do dearly love it. Recipe is here. Two words of caution -- (1) use the thin-sliced bacon; slab bacon won't get crispy in the time it takes the shrimp to cook. (2) Add the brown sugar judiciously, and taste. Depending on the nature of your pepper jelly, it can get too sweet, pretty quickly.

 

I once had another link for the recipe that specified how they cook their grits. I don't use it. By my calculation, it wound up with about a quarter-cup of heavy cream, a quarter-cup of mascarpone, and two tablespoons of butter in every serving, along with whole milk, and I didn't think my arteries could take it. I make the grits with half-and-half whole milk and water, and stir in some cream cheese; seems to make them creamy enough.

 

If these are not the best S&G I've ever had, they're REAL close.

 

 

[robirdstx]

 

Porcupine Meatballs (reheated leftovers from last night’s dinner) and Roasted Asparagus

 

[Anna N]

 

 Pasta (cavatelli) with a creamy leek and sausage sauce.  I am not a fan of short pastas but this was some sort of artisan pasta imported from Italy and it was quite good. 

[chefmd]

Duck breast cooked sous vide 136 degrees, seared in cast iron after that.  Roasted carrots.  Sauce was a mixture of mayo, kimchi juice, sweet chili sauce.

[scubadoo97]

Pan seared red snapper with roasted potatoes and leaf and tomato salad

 

 

[Okanagancook]

1 hour ago, chefmd said:

Duck breast cooked sous vide 136 degrees, seared in cast iron after that.  Roasted carrots.  Sauce was a mixture of mayo, kimchi juice, sweet chili sauce.

I am noticing that the fat isn’t rendered all that well with the sous vide method versus the traditional pan roasted a la T.Keller.  Thoughts?  Keller’s method takes about 20-30 minutes.  Then the rest time.

[Smokeydoke]

Another Instant Pot success! I'm starting to love this thing.

 

 

I didn't make the tamales, I bought them from La Indiana Tamales in East LA, then froze them. They defrosted and cooked up in the iPot in 10 mins! A little bit of degradation in the masa, but overall tasty, and well worth the time saved.

 

The beans are from a Diana Henry recipe. They were delicious! So flavorful.

 

Overall, a great weeknight dinner. I have Mexican food once a year (not because I don't like it, there's just so many other things to eat), but I told Mr. Smokey that we may have it twice this week! I love this thing.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

3 hours ago, Okanagancook said:

I am noticing that the fat isn’t rendered all that well with the sous vide method versus the traditional pan roasted a la T.Keller.  Thoughts?  Keller’s method takes about 20-30 minutes.  Then the rest time.

 

Some of us like fat.

 

[Okanagancook]

11 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Some of us like fat.

 

Well, yes, understood but typically one wants the fat on a duck breast rendered somewhat...and I am liking it rendered a little more than appeared thus my question about how the maker liked it.  Cheers

 

[chefmd]

4 hours ago, Okanagancook said:

I am noticing that the fat isn’t rendered all that well with the sous vide method versus the traditional pan roasted a la T.Keller.  Thoughts?  Keller’s method takes about 20-30 minutes.  Then the rest time.

Fat actually rendered quite a bit.  I was afraid to render it more since this particular duck breast was rather thin and I did not want it overcooked.  Plus I don't mind some fat just like @JoNorvelleWalker

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Dinner was supposed to have been a stir fry.  But I got home late and very tired.  Yesterday I made dough, and pizza called to me.  Used up the last of some still fragrant basil.  You do know what pizza looks like, right?  The wine held out to the end.  How wonderful is that?  Had more wine anyhow.

 

Dessert was fresh made yogurt:

 

 

 

Plated with Georgian preserved walnut.  Seconds not shown.

 

 

[CantCookStillTry]

No the matrix hasn't glitched. Dinner tonight was a repeat. Same cow same cut, just 1 minute each side and 7 mins rest. It was ok. The pink interior didn't make up for what was lost with out the extra minutes crusty sear imo. All can be fixed with fatter steaks. 

I am sharing because I tried to make Chimichurri as the steak sauce for the first time. Followed a Serious Eats Tim Allen Roasted Jalepeno recipe - crazy simple so I think it tasted how it was meant to...

My husband will never tell me something is bad. I hate cilantro so it wasn't for me. I laughed my butt off at the quiet coughs and the answers when I asked if it was ok

"yeah, lovely, intense... just intense" 

"So I'll add it to your lunch I made heaps?" 

"Yeah sure, just, it's so... fresh" 

 

I knew it was bad (for us) not sure if authentic or not. But I like to dabble. Won't be repeated. 

 

[liuzhou]

Had rice left over from  last night so decided to make fried rice. Wanted to add some protein in addition to egg and went shopping to see what was available. Finally settled on 螺蛳肉 luó sī ròu.

 

 

This is the meat extracted from a type of local river snail and the city's signature ingredient, especially in 螺蛳粉 luó sī fěn, or snail noodles. I can buy the live snails, or cooked snails in chilli or just this extracted meat. Being lazy,  I went for the latter.

 

Chopped some garlic, ginger and chilli and soaked some dried shrimp and dried scallops.

 

Cracked a duck egg and scrambled it lightly in the wok, then set it aside.

 

Stir fried the garlic, shrimp etc. Added the snail meat, then after a bit, the rice. When nearly ready I added back the egg along with some scallions.

 

 

Served with mat kimchi (막김치)

 

 

I've never heard of the snails being used this way, but I was very pleased with the results. It'll be appearing at your local Chinese delivery place any time soon!

 

[Shelby]

11 hours ago, Smokeydoke said:

Another Instant Pot success! I'm starting to love this thing.

 

 

I didn't make the tamales, I bought them from La Indiana Tamales in East LA, then froze them. They defrosted and cooked up in the iPot in 10 mins! A little bit of degradation in the masa, but overall tasty, and well worth the time saved.

 

The beans are from a Diana Henry recipe. They were delicious! So flavorful.

 

Overall, a great weeknight dinner. I have Mexican food once a year (not because I don't like it, there's just so many other things to eat), but I told Mr. Smokey that we may have it twice this week! I love this thing.

Looks great!  

 

I do my tamales (purchased from a company in TX) from frozen in the IP.  Steam.  High pressure. 5 mins.  QR.